Many cities in California are wrestling with the state’s housing element requirement, a tool used by the state in anticipation of future housing needs resulting from a projected huge increase in population.

Each local government is required to adopt a housing element as part of its General Plan to show how it plans to meet existing and projected housing needs of people at all income levels.

At a Silicon Valley Association of Realtors meeting, a panel of local officials expressed frustration with the housing element law.

Los Gatos vice mayor Steve Leonardis noted it is a constant challenge to meet the requirement, since Los Gatos is a built-out community.

The Regional Housing Need Allocation is the state-mandated process used to identify the total number of housing units each community must accommodate in its housing element. The state Department of Housing and Community Development has identified the total housing need for the San Francisco Bay Area for an eight-year period, currently from 2014 to 2022. The Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Committee are then charged with the task of developing a methodology of allocating this need to local governments.

Each city must show it can accommodate a certain number of very low-, low-, moderate- and market-rate housing units. Los Gatos, for example, must zone for a total of 619 new units, 313 of them being low and very low income. Saratoga is looking at 439 new units, 242 of those being low and very low income units.

Saratoga city councilman Chuck Page said the current allocation “does not make sense,” since ABAG upped requirements for cities like Saratoga, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno, yet reduced the number for cities that have better access to transit.

Page said the only way Saratoga can comply with its housing requirement is by increasing height limits in commercial areas and providing first story retail and second story housing downtown.

Some cities are taking different approaches. Larger cities like Mountain View and Palo Alto are focusing on finding areas to create higher density zoning. Cities with smaller populations, such as Woodside, are looking at secondary units to meet their allocation. Monte Sereno is experimenting with an amnesty program for illegal secondary units.

Campbell Mayor Evan Low told the agents it is a constant battle with opposing views about housing in a community, especially in Campbell, where about half of residents are renters. According to the RHNA allocation numbers, Campbell must zone for 933 new units, of which 391 must be low and very low income.

If its housing element complies with state law, a city may qualify for some state funds, inclduing transportation and park funding. Failure to meet RHNA numbers opens up a city to potential litigation from housing advocates.

In 2011, Pleasanton settled a lawsuit over its failure to meet its required RHNA numbers, costing the city more than $3.9 million. Last year Menlo Park settled a similar lawsuit. That settlement also required the city to adopt a housing element plan, as well as rezone sites around downtown to develop some affordable housing and provide funding to nonprofit housing developers.

Low emphasized the challenge before cities is not just that of meeting the housing requirement, but “doing it in a smart way that is meaningful to residents.”

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